This invention relates generally to shock testing, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for subjecting a test specimen to a high-g shock in the laboratory to simulate the conditions the specimen might encounter in an intended use.
A test specimen, for example, an accelerometer, may be tested under substantially identical conditions as will be encountered in actual use. One such example is a gun launch test. However, the cost of transporting the specimen to a gun launch test facility and performance of the gun launch testing is very high. In addition, typically it is feasible to conduct only one or two gun launch tests per day. As such, it is economically and logistically beneficial to perform as much laboratory testing as possible, so as to minimize expense and increase convenience, so that many more tests per day can be performed.
One such laboratory testing apparatus is a bench top high-g shock tester. The shock tester uses a ceramic column to load a beam that is rigidly supported at each end. In one known test setup, the ceramic column is shot out, utilizing a projectile, to release the beam fast enough to cause the beam to resonate and apply high-g loads to any samples attached to the beam. In another known test setup, the ceramic column was replaced with an explosive bolt, which also released the beam fast enough to allow it to resonate.
Typically aluminum is utilized for the beam due to its low cost and ease of machining. However, some high-g load testing is performed with titanium beams, which can withstand a much higher loading level than the ceramic columns can withstand. The higher loading level also results in an instability of the ceramic columns.